Newman Nabs Another Great Southern Billiards Victory

Josh Newman’s first win as an A player on the Great Southern Billiards Tour came in March, when his talent and stamina allowed him to come from the west side and stay strong through two sets in the finals, pocketing the final 9 ball just after 6 a.m. Monday morning. On the weekend of May 22-23, Newman did it again, topping the 45-entrant field that gathered at Kylie’s Sports Bar and Grill in Cornelius, NC, for the $1,500-added A/B amateur event.

Newman sailed unscathed into the hot seat match, getting by fellow A player John Sandifer 9-4 to face Glenn Russell, who’d just sent A-ranked Ron Park to the left side 9-7. Russell repeated that margin against Newman to earn a spot in the finals of a GSBT event for the first time, while Newman took a detour to the semifinals.

On the one-loss side, AA-ranked Jeff Abernathy, who’d fallen earlier to Park, edged out B-ranked Marvin Reed 11-6 to meet up with Rick Roper, who’d ousted B-ranked Bob Ruffalo 7-3. Abernathy missed his second shot at Park by two games, falling 7-9 to Roper in the weighted race. Meanwhile, another of Park’s victims, A-ranked Mike Baumgarner, pushed past A players Matt Reed and Riley Myers 9-7 and 9-3, respectively, to welcome Sandifer to the other side by dealing him a 9-6 blow. Baumgaurner advanced to the quarterfinals for a rematch with Park, who’d breezed past Roper 9-3, and though Baumgarner managed several more games than the three he’d managed in their last face-off, he nonetheless came up short, finishing in fourth 9-8 and allowing Park a shot at the finals. But to get there, Park needed to get through Newman, who would have none of that–Newman arrived in the finals with a solid 9-2 victory.

The first set of the true double-elimination finals began at 2:30 a.m., but both Newman and Russell were up to the challenge of a late-night pool duel, and they traded games back and forth. In the end, though, Newman edged ahead, pushing the second set 9-7. In the second set, just as in the first, the two stayed even, but as the end drew closer, Newman once again forged ahead, earning his second win this season 9-7.

Josh Newman’s first win as an A player on the Great Southern Billiards Tour came in March, when his talent and stamina allowed him to come from the west side and stay strong through two sets in the finals, pocketing the final 9 ball just after 6 a.m. Monday morning.Results: